Carton with measuring trap dispenser



June 27, 1967 J. GOULD CARTON WITH MEASURING TRAP DISPENSER Filed June21, 1965 m/ Mai/m2 Jerome 6011/1 United States Patent 3,327,910 CARTONWITH MEASURING TRAP DISPENSER Jerome Gould, Encino, Calif., assignor toDesign Properties, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Cali-[fornia Filed June 21, 1965, Ser. No. 465,651 6 Claims. (Cl. 222-455)This invention relates to a dispensing container for a solid material ina readily flowable granular or powdered form and, more particularly,relates to such a container that discharges predetermined quantities ofthe material in response to repeated tilting of the container to aforwardly downwardly inclined position.

A primary problem in the design of a container of this type is toprovide a dispensing structure that may be mass produced at suificientlylow cost for commercial acceptance. Containers for dry flowablematerials such as sugar and detergents in granular or powdered form aremade of inexpensive cardboard and are fabricated at low cost byautomatic machinery. Various dispensing containers of this tiltable typehave been devised heretofore but, in general, the internal structure ofsuch containers have been complicated and entirely unsuited for low costmass production. Y

The present invention meets this basic problem by providing an internaldispensing unit which is designed for mass production as a separate itemand which may be readily assembled to a conventional container atexceed- .ingly low cost. Thus the invention avoids adding costraisingcomplications to the construction of the container itself.

Given the concept of manufacturing an internal dispensing unit orstructure separate from the container, two problems are encountered. Oneof these problems is to design the dispensing unit per se for low costmass production. The other problem is to design the dispensing unit forquick and simple installation in the container.

In a tiltable container of this type, the dispensing operation byrepeated tilting of thecoutainer isaccomplished by a serpentine passagein which measured increments of the granular material progress step 'bystep in alternate :opposite directions. In the preferred practice-of thein- ;vention, the serpentine passage has three portions, .namely: aninitial portion inwhich an increment of the granular material isinitially trapped by flowing forward ;to a 180 bend in the passage inresponse to forward tilting of the container; an intermediate portion inwhich the initially trapped increment of granular material flowsrearward from the first 180 bend to asecond 180 bend in response toreturn-of the container from its tilted position; and a final portion towhich the trapped increment of granular material flows forward from thesecond 180 lbfil'ld'lo the dispensing port of the container when thecontainer is again tilted forward. Thus if the container is repeatedlytilted forward, each tilting movement traps one increment of thematerial and simultaneously discharges a previously trapped increment.

Such a tortuous passage structure would be prohibitively expensive tofabricate in a piecemeal manner but it is obvious that the structure istoo complex for production in a single mold because it basicallycomprises two side walls interconnected by two transverse walls ofcomplicated shape. Each of the transverse walls is of a U-shapedconfiguration with two legs and each of the U-shaped transverse wallshas a leg that extends into the space defined by the other U-shapedtransverse wall.

The invention solves this problem of economically fabricating a complexstructure by making the dispensing unit of a suitable plastic materialand by molding the unit in two sections that may be readily assembledtogether.

3,327,910 Patented June 27, 1967 Each of the molded sections comprisesone of the two side walls of the dispensing unit with integral portions,preferably half portions, of the two U-shaped transverse walls integralwith the side wall.

The problem of constructing such a dispensing unit for a simpleinstallation procedure that does not complicate the mass production ofthe container itself is solved, as will be explained, by placing thedispensing outlet of the container at the juncture of two perpendicularwalls of the container. A notch is formed in the edge of one of the twocontainer walls to form three sides of the dispensing outlet, the fourthside of the dispensing outlet being formed by an edge of the second ofthe two perpendicular walls. As will be explained in detail, theadvantage of such a construction is that the plastic dispensing unit maybe formed-with a continuous flange around its dispensing outlet forengagement with the rim of the dispensing outlet of the container andthe unit may be installed by first mounting the unit in the notched wallof the container before the notched wall is assembled to the rest of thecontainer.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. 1is a fragmentary sectional view of a dispensing container incorporatingthe presently preferred practice of the invention, the container beingshown in a forwardly tilted position at which an initial increment ofthe granular material is trapped in one part of the dispensing passage;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the container tilted back towards uprightposition to cause the trapped initial increment to advance to a secondpart of the dispensing passage;

FIG. 3 is a similar view showing the container tilted forward again todischarge the trapped increment of granular material and at the sametime to receive a new in crement;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken as indicated by the-line 4 4of FIG. 1 showing the construction of v the plastic dispensing unit;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the two separate molded sections whichtogether form the plastic dispensing unit; FIG. 6 is a fragmentaryperspective view of a closure wall of the container with a notch thereinto form three sides of the dispensing port of the container; and

'FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing how imating walls ofthetwo molded sections may be shaped for mutual snap engagement.

FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings show a rectangular container having a bodycomprising a bottom wall (not walls of the container as shown. For thepurpose of providing a dispensing port for the container, the closurewall 15 may be formed with a rectangular notch 18 as shown in FIG. ,6,the notch extending through the flange 16. When the top wall or closurewall 15 is assembled to the body of the container, the notch 18 formsthree sides of the dispensing port of the container and an edge of theside wall 12 of the body of the container forms the fourth side of thedispensing port.

A dispensing unit, generally designated 20, which may be made of asuitable plastic is mounted inside the container and forms a serpentinedispensing passage that discharges through the dispensing port of thecontainer. As shown in FIG. 4, the dispensing unit 20 has two oppositeside walls 21 and 22, two opposite outer walls 23 and 24 and, as shownin FIGS. 1, 2, and '3, the dispensing unit has two transverse U-shapedwalls 25 and 26 respectively each of which is of U-shaped configurationwith two legs. One leg 28 of the U-shaped transverse wall 2-5 extendsinto the space defined by the U-shaped transverse wall 26 and one leg 30of the U-shaped transverse wall 26 extends into the space defined by theU-shaped transverse wall 25. The second leg of the U-shaped transversewall 25 is the above mentioned outside wall 24 of the unit and thesecond leg of the U-shaped transverse wall 2-6 is the other outside wall23 of the dispensing unit. Thus the two U-shaped transverse wallscooperate to form a serpentine dispensing passage having three portions,namely, an initial portion 32 extending to a first 180 passage bend 34,an intermediate portion 35 extending from the first 180 passage bend 34to a second 180 passage bend 36, and a final portion 38 extending fromthe second 180 pass-age bend to the dispensing port of the container.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the outer wall 24 of the plasticdispensing unit lies against the side wall 12 of the container and may,if desired, be adhesively bonded thereto. Preferably, but notnecessarily, the U-shaped transverse wall 25 is formed with a rearwardouter flange 40 which also lies against the side wall 12 of thecontainer. The outlet end of the serpentine dispensing passage of thedispensing unit may be further formed with a continuous rim flange 42which engages the rim of the dispensing port of the container.

As indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the dispensing unit 20 may comprise twomolded plastic sections which mate along a medial plane that isrepresented by a dotted line 44 in FIG. 4. Each of the two moldedsections comprises one of the two side walls 21 or 22 together with ahalf portion of each of the two U-shaped transverse walls 25 and 26.Each of the two molded plastic sections further includes one half of thecontinuous rim flange 42 as may be seen in FIG. 5.

The two molded sections of the dispensing unit may be permanently unitedin any suitable manner. In the construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, forexample, one section is formed with projecting pins 45 and the othersection is formed with corresponding bores to receive the pins. The pins45 may be dimensioned for forced fit in the bores to hold the twosections together or, if desired, the pins 45 may serve merely ascentering or positioning pins with the two plastic sections adhesivelybonded together.

In an alternate construction of the dispensing unit, the two plasticsections are adapted to make snap engagement with each other to simplifythe assembly procedure. For this purpose, as indicated in FIG. 7, eachof the two sections of the two outer walls 23 and 24 of the dispensingunit may be formed with a lip 46 which snaps into engagement with acorresponding groove 48 in the other section. This construction takesadvantage of the fact that the plastic walls of the dispensing unit havea certain degree of flexibility.

The method of fabricating the described dispensing container may bereadily understood from the foregoing description. The two plasticsections of the dispensing unit 20 are each mass produced by injectionmolding and then are assembled together separately from the container.The container is fabricated by automatic machinery in the usual mannerbut with the closure wall 15 separate from the body of the container.

The dispensing unit 20 is inserted sidewise into the notch 18 of theseparate closure wall 15 to engage three edges of the notch with threesides of the continuous rim flange 42 of the dispensing unit. Theclosure wall 15 is then assembled to the body of the container by anoperation which involves backing the plastic dispensing unit 20 into theinterior of the container until the fourth side of the continuous rimflange 42 of the dispensing unit makes positive engagement with thefourth side of the dispensong port of the unit, which fourth side is anedge of the side wall 12 of the container.

It is apparent that with one leg of one of the U-shaped transverse wallof the dispensing unit 20 lying flat against the side wall 12 of thecontainer and with the other U- shaped transverse wall snugly abuttingthe inner surface of the closure wall 15 and the continuous rim flange42 of the dispensing unit in engagement with the rim of the dispensingport of the container, the dispensing unit is stabilized relative to thecontainer and may be held in position without the use of adhesive. Ifdesired, however, adhesive may be applied for bonding the dispensingunit 20 both to the side wall 12 of the container and to the closurewall 15.

It is to be noted that providing the serpentine passage with the threeportions 32, 35, 38 is important because the first portion parallel withthe second portion serves as means to trap an initial preciselypredetermined increment of the granular material, the second portionbeing required to transfer the initial increment to provide room for anew increment, and the third portion serving to discharge the successiveincrements.

My description in specific detail of the preferred practice of theinvention will suggest various changes, substitutions and otherdepartures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a dispensing container to discharge predetermined quantities ofgranular material in response to repeated tilting of the container, thecombination of:

a dispensing port in a first wall of the container adjacent a secondwall of the container that is substantially perpendicular to the firstwall; and

a dispensing means inside the container having two transverse walls,each of the transverse walls being of generally U-shaped configurationwith two legs, one leg of each U-shaped transverse wall extending intothe space defined by the other U-shaped transverse wall to form aserpentine passage having its entrance inside the container and its exitat the dispensing port of the container,

one leg of one of the two U-shaped transverse walls lying flat againstsaid second wall of the container, said dispensing means being connectedto said first wall of the container, said dispensing means being formedwith a continuous flange at its exit in overlying engagement with theouter surface of said first wall of the container around the dispensingport of the container to anchor the dispensing means against inwarddisplacement relative to the container.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the dispensing meansis a plastic structure made in two molded sections with mating portionsof the two sections shaped to snap into mutual engagement.

3. In a dispensing container to discharge predetermined quantities ofgranular material in response to repeated tilt- 6 ing of the container,the combination of:

a dispensing port in a first wall of the container adjacent a secondwall of the container that is substantially perpendicular to the firstwall; and

a dispensing unit inside the container having two transverse walls, eachof the transverse walls being of generally U-shaped configuration withtwo legs, one leg of each U-shaped transverse wall extending into thespace defined by the other U-shaped transverse wall 70 to form aserpentine passage having its entrance inside the container and its exitat the dispensing port of the container,

one leg of one of the two U-shaped transverse walls lying flat againstsaid second wall of the container,

said unit comprising two interconnected molded plastic 6 sections, eachsection comp-rising one of the tWO dispensing port with the plastic unitmounted in the side walls and portions of both of the U-shapeddispensing port and with a fourth side of the contransverse wallsintegral with the side Wall. tinuous flange in engagement with said edgeof a 4. A method of fabricating a container for a granular wall of thecontainer. material, which container has a serpentine dispensing 5 6.The combination of: Passage f r dispensing predetermined quantities ofthe a container having an end wall and an adjacent side material inresponse to repeated tilting of the container, wall perpendicularthereto, characterized by the steps of: said end wall having arectangular notch in its edge molding PIElstic material to form twoSeparate molded adjacent said side wall, the notch forming three sidesbodies which together form the serpentine passage, of the rectangulardispensing port, the fourth side of said two sections each forming partof a plastic recthe dispensing port being formed by a portion of thetangular dispensing port with a continuous flange edge of the side wall;and around the dispensing port; a dispensing unit inside the containerhaving two transassembling the two molded bodies together to form averse walls, each of the transverse walls being of plastic dispensingunit; generally U-shaped configuration with two legs, one forming thebody of the container with four side walls leg of each U-shapedtransverse wall eXtcndinn i and with a closure wall separate from theside walls the space defined by the other U-shaped tran s verse and witha rectangular notch formed in one edge of wall to form a serpentinepassage having its entrance the closure ll; inside the container andhaving a rectangular disassembling the closure wall to the body of thecontainer to position the notch to cooperate with an edge of a wall ofthe body of the container to form a mounting the dispensing unit in therectangular notch charge d in the separate closure wall with thecontinuous said discharge end of the unit extending through the flangeof the unit engaging t e Outer ce Of the rectangular dispensing port ofthe container, closure wall around three sides of the rectangular saiddischarge end of the unit having a flange externotch; and nally of thecontainer overlapping the three sides of assembling the closure wall tothe body of the conthe rectangular notch in the end wall and overlappingtainer to bring the continuous flange of the dispensthe correspondingportion of the edge of said side ing unit into position overlapping theedge of one wall to prevent inward displacement of the unit relaof saidside walls. tive to the container,

5. A method of fabricating a container for a granular a first legportion of one of the two U-shaped transverse material, Which containerhas a serpentine dispensing walls of the unit lying flat against theinner surface passage for dispensing predetermined quantities of the fid id 11 of h Container ma in response to repeated tilting of thecontainer a second portion of the other U-shaped transverse wallcharacterized by the S P backing against the inner surface of the endwall molding plastic material to form two separate molded of thecontainer to cooperate with the first portion bodies which together formthe Sarpentme Passage to stabilize the unit relative to the containersaid two sections each forming part of a plastic dispensing port with acontinuous flange around the References Cited dis ensin ort;asserrihling ih two molded bodies together to form a UNITED STATES TENTSl i dispensing unit; ,055 2/1879 R q a 215 43 forming t body of thecontainer with a closure wall 1,601,723 10/ 1926 Elbert 222 455 separatefrom the container and with a notch forme 2,023,537 12/ 1935 Myers 222455 in one edge of the closure Wall; 2,425,142 -8/ 1947 Brubaker 222-456 mounting the plastic unit on said closure wall by insert- 2,76 772 10195 pransen et 2 ing the plastic unit sideways into said notch to place45 3 052 3 5 9 19 2 Tindal 222454 three sides of the continuous flangeof the plastic 3,055,399 9/1962 Bush et a1 unit in engagement with threesides of the notch; and 3,189,232 6/1965 loffe 222 394 RAPHAEL M. LUPO,Primary Examiner.

1. IN A DISPENSING CONTAINER TO DISCHARGE PREDETERMINED QUANTITIES OFGRANULAR MATERIAL IN RESPONSE TO REPEATED TILTING OF THE CONTAINER, THECOMBINATION OF: A DISPENSING PORT IN A FIRST WALL OF THE CONTAINERADJACENT A SECOND WALL OF THE CONTAINER THAT IS SUBSTANTIALLYPERPENDICULAR TO THE FIRST WALL; AND A DISPENSING MEANS INSIDE THECONTAINER HAVING TWO TRANSVERSE WALLS, EACH OF THE TRANSVERSE WALLSBEING OF GENERALLY U-SHAPED CONFIGURATION WITH TWO LEGS, ONE LEG OF EACHU-SHAPED TRANSVERSE WALL EXTENDING INTO THE SPACE DEFINED BY THE OTHERU-SHAPED TRANSVERSE WALL TO FORM A SERPENTINE PASSAGE HAVING ITSENTRANCE INSIDE THE CONTAINER AND ITS EXIT AT THE DISPENSING PORT OF THECONTAINER,